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Russian Team Championship Premier League
May 10, 2021
Congratulations to Bronze Horseman from St. Petersburg on winning the Russian Team Championship for a 4th year in a row! A win for Andrey Esipenko was enough to claim a 7th win in 7 rounds and claim the title with a round to spare
Andrey Esipenko's 5th win in 6 games sees him edge above Dubov and Svidler into the world no. 27 spot on 2714.2!
Here are Esipenko’s games from the event:
Round 1, May 1
Musalov, Ruslan – Esipenko, Andrey
B10 Caro-Kann, Closed (Breyer) variation
1.e4 c6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 e5 4.Ngf3 Bd6 5.d4 exd4 6.Bd3 Ne7 7.O-O c5 8.exd5 Nxd5 9.Ne4 Be7 10.Nfg5 h6 11.Nf3 Nc6 12.c3 dxc3 13.bxc3 O-O 14.Bc2 Be6 15.Re1 Qa5 16.Rb1 Rfd8 17.Bd2 Qc7 18.Qe2 b6 19.Rbd1 Bf8 20.Bb1 Be7 21.Ng3 Nf6 22.Nh4 Bg4 23.f3 Be6 24.Nhf5 Bf8 25.Bc1 Ne7 26.Nxe7+ Qxe7 27.Qc2 Rxd1 28.Qxd1 Rd8 29.Qc2 g6 30.f4 Bb3 31.Qf2 Rd1 32.Rxd1 Bxd1 33.h3 Ba4 34.Bd3 Bc6 35.Kh2 Bg7 36.Bd2 h5 37.Kg1 Qd8 38.Qe2 Bh6 39.Nf1 Qd6 40.Bc2 Bxf4 41.Bxf4 Qxf4 42.Qe7 Nd5 43.Qxa7 Nxc3 44.Bd3 0-1
Mate in 10
Round 2, May 2
Usmanov, Vasily – Esipenko, Andrey
A28 English, Four Knights, Nimzowitsch variation
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e4 Bb4 5.d3 d6 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 O-O 8.g3 Nd7 9.Nh4 a6 10.a4 Nc5 11.Bg2 Na5 12.Be3 Bd7 13.O-O b5 14.axb5 axb5 15.cxb5 Bxb5 16.c4 Bd7 17.Nf5 Ne6 18.Qg4 Kh8 19.f4 Nc6 20.Rxa8 Qxa8 21.fxe5 Nxe5 22.Qe2 Qa6 23.d4 Qxc4 24.Qb2 Nd3 25.Qa1 f6 26.Rd1 Nb4 27.Rc1 Qb5 28.d5 Nc5 29.Bxc5 dxc5 30.Qc3 Qb8 31.Ra1 Bxf5 32.exf5 Qb6 33.Qc4 Re8 34.Kh1 Qd6 35.g4 h6 36.h3 Re3 37.Qb5 Kh7 38.Rc1 Nd3 39.Rf1 Qg3 40.d6 Nf2+ 41.Rxf2 Qxf2 42.dxc7 Re1+ 0-1
Round 3, May 3
Sarana, Alexey – Esipenko, Andrey
E20 Nimzo-Indian, Kmoch variation
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 d5 5.a3 Be7 6.e4 dxc4 7.Bxc4 c5 8.Nge2 Nc6 9.Be3 O-O 10.dxc5 Ne5 11.Ba2 Nd3+ 12.Kf1 b6 13.c6 Bc5 14.c7 Qd7 15.Bxc5 bxc5 16.Qc2 Ba6 17.Rd1 Rfc8 18.Na4 Qb5 19.Nac3 Qxb2 20.Qa4 Qb6 21.Rb1 Qd6 22.Rd1 Nd7 23.f4 Rxc7 24.Bc4 Bxc4 25.Qxc4 Nb2 26.Rxd6 Nxc4 27.Rd3 Nxa3 28.Kf2 Nb6 29.Rhd1 Rcc8 30.Ra1 Nc2 31.Ra5 Nb4 32.Rd1 a6 33.e5 Nc4 34.Raa1 a5 35.Rd7 Rd8 36.Rb7 h6 37.Ne4 Nd3+ 38.Kf3 a4 39.g4 a3 40.g5 Rab8 41.Rxb8 Rxb8 42.gxh6 Rb3 43.Rg1 Ndxe5+ 44.Kf2 Rf3+ 45.Kg2 Re3 46.fxe5 Rxe4 47.Kf3 Nd2+ 48.Kf2 g6 0-1
Round 4, May 4
Esipenko, Andrey – Zvjaginsev, Vadim
E10 Dzindzikhashvili Defence
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 a6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Nc3 h6 6.Bh4 d5 7.cxd5 exd5 8.e3 O-O 9.Qc2 Be6 10.Bd3 Nbd7 11.O-O c5 12.dxc5 Nxc5 13.Rad1 Rc8 14.Nd4 Nfe4 15.Bxe7 Qxe7 16.Nce2 Nf6 17.Qb1 Bg4 18.Bf5 Bxe2 19.Nxe2 Rcd8 20.Nd4 Nce4 21.Qc2 g6 22.Bxe4 dxe4 1/2-1/2
Round 6, May 7
Esipenko, Andrey – Kobalia, Mikhail
E10 Queen’s Pawn game
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Nc3 dxc4 6.Bg2 Nc6 7.O-O O-O 8.a3 Be7 9.e4 Rb8 10.Be3 b5 11.Qe2 Na5 12.Rad1 Bb7 13.Ne5 Qc8 14.g4 b4 15.axb4 Bxb4 16.g5 Nd7 17.Ng4 f5 18.gxf6 Nxf6 19.Nxf6+ Rxf6 20.Bg5 Rf7 21.d5 e5 22.f4 h6 23.fxe5 Rxf1+ 24.Rxf1 hxg5 25.e6 Qd8 26.Qh5 Qe7 27.Rf7 Qc5+ 28.Kh1 Bxc3 29.Rf3 Be1 30.Qf7+ Kh8 31.e7 Qd6 32.e8=Q+ 1-0
Round 8, May 9
Antipov, Mikhail – Esipenko, Andrey
B13 Caro-Kann, Exchange variation
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nf6 5.h3 Nc6 6.c3 g6 7.Nf3 Bf5 8.Be2 e6 9.O-O a6 10.Re1 h6 11.a3 Qc7 12.Nbd2 g5 13.c4 Rd8 14.c5 Ne4 15.b4 h5 16.Bb2 g4 17.Ne5 gxh3 18.Nxe4 Bxe4 19.Bf3 Nxe5 20.dxe5 Rg8 21.g3 h4 22.g4 f5 23.exf6 Rxg4+ 24.Kh1 Qf4 25.Re3 Bxf3+ 26.Qxf3 Qxf3+ 27.Rxf3 Kf7 28.Kh2 Re4 29.Kxh3 d4 30.Rd1 e5 31.Bc1 Rd7 32.Kg2 Ke6 33.f7 Re2 34.Kf1 Rc2 35.Bg5 Rxf7 36.Rxf7 Kxf7 37.Bxh4 Bg7 38.f3 Ke6 39.Rb1 Bf8 40.Re1 Bh6 41.Bg3 Be3 42.Re2 Rc1+ 43.Re1 Rc2 44.Re2 Rc3 45.Bf2 Rxa3 46.Bxe3 Rxe3 0-1
Round 9, May 10
Makarian, Rudik – Esipenko, Andrey
E10 Queen’s Pawn game
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 h6 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bf4 Bd6 7.e3 Bxf4 8.exf4 O-O 9.Ne5 Nc6 10.Be2 Ne7 11.Bd3 c5 12.dxc5 Qa5 13.O-O Qxc5 14.Qa4 Rd8 15.Rac1 Qb6 16.Qa3 Nf5 17.Nb5 Nd6 18.Nxd6 Rxd6 19.Rc2 Be6 20.Rfc1 Ne4 21.h3 Rad8 22.g4 Nf6 23.Rc5 a6 24.f5 Bd7 25.Rc7 Re8 26.Rxb7 Qxb7 27.Qxd6 Qxb2 28.Re1 Qc3 29.Re3 d4 30.Bc4 dxe3 31.Bxf7+ Kh7 32.Bg6+ Kh8 33.Bxe8 exf2+ 0-1
Final Position
and, finally, a miniature from Round 9
Another King Walk game!
Round 9, May 10
Popov, Ivan – Timerkhanov, Alexander
B23 Sicilian, Closed
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Qd2 g6 6.b3 Bh6 7.f4 e5 8.Nb5 Bxf4 9.Qxd6 Qxd6 10.Nxd6+ Kf8 11.Ba3 Kg7 12.Ne8+ Kh6 13.Bf8+ Kh5 14.Ng7+ Kg5 15.Nf3+ Kh6 16.Nf5+ Kh5 17.Ng3+ Kg4 18.Kf2 1-0
May 10, 2021
Congratulations to Bronze Horseman from St. Petersburg on winning the Russian Team Championship for a 4th year in a row! A win for Andrey Esipenko was enough to claim a 7th win in 7 rounds and claim the title with a round to spare
Andrey Esipenko's 5th win in 6 games sees him edge above Dubov and Svidler into the world no. 27 spot on 2714.2!
Here are Esipenko’s games from the event:
Round 1, May 1
Musalov, Ruslan – Esipenko, Andrey
B10 Caro-Kann, Closed (Breyer) variation
1.e4 c6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 e5 4.Ngf3 Bd6 5.d4 exd4 6.Bd3 Ne7 7.O-O c5 8.exd5 Nxd5 9.Ne4 Be7 10.Nfg5 h6 11.Nf3 Nc6 12.c3 dxc3 13.bxc3 O-O 14.Bc2 Be6 15.Re1 Qa5 16.Rb1 Rfd8 17.Bd2 Qc7 18.Qe2 b6 19.Rbd1 Bf8 20.Bb1 Be7 21.Ng3 Nf6 22.Nh4 Bg4 23.f3 Be6 24.Nhf5 Bf8 25.Bc1 Ne7 26.Nxe7+ Qxe7 27.Qc2 Rxd1 28.Qxd1 Rd8 29.Qc2 g6 30.f4 Bb3 31.Qf2 Rd1 32.Rxd1 Bxd1 33.h3 Ba4 34.Bd3 Bc6 35.Kh2 Bg7 36.Bd2 h5 37.Kg1 Qd8 38.Qe2 Bh6 39.Nf1 Qd6 40.Bc2 Bxf4 41.Bxf4 Qxf4 42.Qe7 Nd5 43.Qxa7 Nxc3 44.Bd3 0-1
Mate in 10
Round 2, May 2
Usmanov, Vasily – Esipenko, Andrey
A28 English, Four Knights, Nimzowitsch variation
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e4 Bb4 5.d3 d6 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 O-O 8.g3 Nd7 9.Nh4 a6 10.a4 Nc5 11.Bg2 Na5 12.Be3 Bd7 13.O-O b5 14.axb5 axb5 15.cxb5 Bxb5 16.c4 Bd7 17.Nf5 Ne6 18.Qg4 Kh8 19.f4 Nc6 20.Rxa8 Qxa8 21.fxe5 Nxe5 22.Qe2 Qa6 23.d4 Qxc4 24.Qb2 Nd3 25.Qa1 f6 26.Rd1 Nb4 27.Rc1 Qb5 28.d5 Nc5 29.Bxc5 dxc5 30.Qc3 Qb8 31.Ra1 Bxf5 32.exf5 Qb6 33.Qc4 Re8 34.Kh1 Qd6 35.g4 h6 36.h3 Re3 37.Qb5 Kh7 38.Rc1 Nd3 39.Rf1 Qg3 40.d6 Nf2+ 41.Rxf2 Qxf2 42.dxc7 Re1+ 0-1
Round 3, May 3
Sarana, Alexey – Esipenko, Andrey
E20 Nimzo-Indian, Kmoch variation
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 d5 5.a3 Be7 6.e4 dxc4 7.Bxc4 c5 8.Nge2 Nc6 9.Be3 O-O 10.dxc5 Ne5 11.Ba2 Nd3+ 12.Kf1 b6 13.c6 Bc5 14.c7 Qd7 15.Bxc5 bxc5 16.Qc2 Ba6 17.Rd1 Rfc8 18.Na4 Qb5 19.Nac3 Qxb2 20.Qa4 Qb6 21.Rb1 Qd6 22.Rd1 Nd7 23.f4 Rxc7 24.Bc4 Bxc4 25.Qxc4 Nb2 26.Rxd6 Nxc4 27.Rd3 Nxa3 28.Kf2 Nb6 29.Rhd1 Rcc8 30.Ra1 Nc2 31.Ra5 Nb4 32.Rd1 a6 33.e5 Nc4 34.Raa1 a5 35.Rd7 Rd8 36.Rb7 h6 37.Ne4 Nd3+ 38.Kf3 a4 39.g4 a3 40.g5 Rab8 41.Rxb8 Rxb8 42.gxh6 Rb3 43.Rg1 Ndxe5+ 44.Kf2 Rf3+ 45.Kg2 Re3 46.fxe5 Rxe4 47.Kf3 Nd2+ 48.Kf2 g6 0-1
Round 4, May 4
Esipenko, Andrey – Zvjaginsev, Vadim
E10 Dzindzikhashvili Defence
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 a6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Nc3 h6 6.Bh4 d5 7.cxd5 exd5 8.e3 O-O 9.Qc2 Be6 10.Bd3 Nbd7 11.O-O c5 12.dxc5 Nxc5 13.Rad1 Rc8 14.Nd4 Nfe4 15.Bxe7 Qxe7 16.Nce2 Nf6 17.Qb1 Bg4 18.Bf5 Bxe2 19.Nxe2 Rcd8 20.Nd4 Nce4 21.Qc2 g6 22.Bxe4 dxe4 1/2-1/2
Round 6, May 7
Esipenko, Andrey – Kobalia, Mikhail
E10 Queen’s Pawn game
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Nc3 dxc4 6.Bg2 Nc6 7.O-O O-O 8.a3 Be7 9.e4 Rb8 10.Be3 b5 11.Qe2 Na5 12.Rad1 Bb7 13.Ne5 Qc8 14.g4 b4 15.axb4 Bxb4 16.g5 Nd7 17.Ng4 f5 18.gxf6 Nxf6 19.Nxf6+ Rxf6 20.Bg5 Rf7 21.d5 e5 22.f4 h6 23.fxe5 Rxf1+ 24.Rxf1 hxg5 25.e6 Qd8 26.Qh5 Qe7 27.Rf7 Qc5+ 28.Kh1 Bxc3 29.Rf3 Be1 30.Qf7+ Kh8 31.e7 Qd6 32.e8=Q+ 1-0
Round 8, May 9
Antipov, Mikhail – Esipenko, Andrey
B13 Caro-Kann, Exchange variation
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nf6 5.h3 Nc6 6.c3 g6 7.Nf3 Bf5 8.Be2 e6 9.O-O a6 10.Re1 h6 11.a3 Qc7 12.Nbd2 g5 13.c4 Rd8 14.c5 Ne4 15.b4 h5 16.Bb2 g4 17.Ne5 gxh3 18.Nxe4 Bxe4 19.Bf3 Nxe5 20.dxe5 Rg8 21.g3 h4 22.g4 f5 23.exf6 Rxg4+ 24.Kh1 Qf4 25.Re3 Bxf3+ 26.Qxf3 Qxf3+ 27.Rxf3 Kf7 28.Kh2 Re4 29.Kxh3 d4 30.Rd1 e5 31.Bc1 Rd7 32.Kg2 Ke6 33.f7 Re2 34.Kf1 Rc2 35.Bg5 Rxf7 36.Rxf7 Kxf7 37.Bxh4 Bg7 38.f3 Ke6 39.Rb1 Bf8 40.Re1 Bh6 41.Bg3 Be3 42.Re2 Rc1+ 43.Re1 Rc2 44.Re2 Rc3 45.Bf2 Rxa3 46.Bxe3 Rxe3 0-1
Round 9, May 10
Makarian, Rudik – Esipenko, Andrey
E10 Queen’s Pawn game
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 h6 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bf4 Bd6 7.e3 Bxf4 8.exf4 O-O 9.Ne5 Nc6 10.Be2 Ne7 11.Bd3 c5 12.dxc5 Qa5 13.O-O Qxc5 14.Qa4 Rd8 15.Rac1 Qb6 16.Qa3 Nf5 17.Nb5 Nd6 18.Nxd6 Rxd6 19.Rc2 Be6 20.Rfc1 Ne4 21.h3 Rad8 22.g4 Nf6 23.Rc5 a6 24.f5 Bd7 25.Rc7 Re8 26.Rxb7 Qxb7 27.Qxd6 Qxb2 28.Re1 Qc3 29.Re3 d4 30.Bc4 dxe3 31.Bxf7+ Kh7 32.Bg6+ Kh8 33.Bxe8 exf2+ 0-1
Final Position
and, finally, a miniature from Round 9
Another King Walk game!
Round 9, May 10
Popov, Ivan – Timerkhanov, Alexander
B23 Sicilian, Closed
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Qd2 g6 6.b3 Bh6 7.f4 e5 8.Nb5 Bxf4 9.Qxd6 Qxd6 10.Nxd6+ Kf8 11.Ba3 Kg7 12.Ne8+ Kh6 13.Bf8+ Kh5 14.Ng7+ Kg5 15.Nf3+ Kh6 16.Nf5+ Kh5 17.Ng3+ Kg4 18.Kf2 1-0
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